Cutting Additional Costs
Last week I was out of town at a conference with fellow peers in the IT industry in Nashville. On Thursday morning I received the morning paper at my hotel door and it showed the unemployment numbers for March. It reported that a whopping 775,000 people lost their jobs in the month of March. Wow! During my meetings that day, I tried to concentrate on the speakers, but I just kept thinking there has got to be a way to lower my customers’, friends’, associates’ etc..expenses and help out somehow. I figure if I could do that, then in my own little way I helping to create our own little stimulus plan. When I got back to the hotel room, I racked my brain for a few hours thinking of new ideas.
I think that these are ideas that you may not have considered, but even if you have I am dedicating my staff to helping you in analyzing the items below. Even if you can only save your company a few dollars here and a few there, you will be showing those that you work with that you care about the company and are trying to do everything you can to protect the people you work with. If you have additional ideas, I would really love to hear them.
1. Analyze your Internet Costs - Internet prices are constantly dropping. If you have had your DSL or T1 connection for a few years, chances are that prices have dropped and you might be able to save some money by replacing your connection with another provider or another tiered plan. Maybe you have a reduction in staff and do not need all the bandwidth you have. Think “out of the box”! What about sharing your Internet with another tenant in the same building. Frontec can bring in a single line and separate them so that multiple tenants can share the same bandwidth and thus, save money. Frontec can do that and make sure you are secure and truly separate. Frontec also works with literally hundreds of ISP’s. If you think AT&T and Verizon are the only companies serving your area, you are probably mistaken. Fax us a copy of your Internet bill and Frontec will do a free Internet Analysis, to see if there are any ways to save some money. Chances are you can lower your costs and not incur any addition setup costs. Your have nothing to lose.
2. Analyze your Communication Infrastructure - Do you really know how many phones lines you have? Do you know how your phone system works and if you need as many phone lines as you think you need? Phone systems and phone services have been evolving over the years and now there are many systems out there that can dramatically reduce your monthly costs and even provide better functionality. Fax us your phone bill and give us all your phone related expenses and we will do a free communications audit to see if we can save you some money. The same goes for all communications, like your cell phones too. Frontec works with hundreds of different vendors that can reduce your costs. You have nothing to lose.
3. Let your Employees Telecommute - Studies have shown that telecommuting employees are happier and work more efficiently. They don’t have to drive in traffic, and they can focus on tasks without interruptions. Years ago, working from home was a big headache. But now it can be quite easy for users to securely access company programs and data, answer phones, and interact with fellow employees. If you are cutting costs and benefits or even salaries, this might be a great option to keep moral up, save money and make your employees happy. You might not know this but, sometimes when you call Frontec technicians, they are actually working from home. I have found that my employees are happier and feel less stressed. Heck who would not want a break from our traffic. I have written a 23 page “Work from Home” report that contains telecommuting agreements, telecommuting audits and all the information you need in order to make a decision and to act on that decision. Just ask me for it and I will email it over.
4. Analyze your Faxing - Faxing is one of those archaic but necessary communications methods we need to have to run a business. But just having a fax line and paying for long distance and local toll calls can be quite costly on a business line. Frontec can do several things to lower your costs. One thing you can do is to port your number to an Internet faxing company. Frontec works with several different Internet faxing companies that can provide Internet based faxing at a reduced cost. Plus you can keep your number. Messages are delivered to your mailbox and you can fax by just sending an email. It is easy and saves time and money. In addition it saves money on paper and toner. Another thing to do is to share your fax line with one of your phone lines. Frontec can install a small device that detects if a phone call is coming in or if a fax is coming in. So it sends the fax to the fax machine and the phone to the telephone. This allows you to get rid of a phone line. Send 2 or 3 months of your phone bills to Frontec, identify on the bill your fax line(s) and we will see if we can figure out a way to help lower your costs. You have nothing to lose.
5. Downsize - No I am not talking about, letting people go. I am talking about getting rid of all the extras in your office and selling them on eBay. Frontec is currently selling client items on eBay for a small fee. You get the benefit of a cleaner, more streamlined office as well as some cash. Your junk is another person’s treasure. We are not going to be offering this service for too much longer, because of the response we have received, so please let me know if you have some things you want to get rid of.
6. Implement Inexpensive Marketing Strategies - There are so many inexpensive marketing ideas out there. Many of them revolve around the Internet. Get involved with e-mail marketing. Get involved with social networks like Tweeter and Facebook. Launch Press Releases! Optimize your website so companies can find you on the Internet. There are so many ideas in this area. I LOVE talking about marketing. If you want to chat and exchange marketing ideas feel free to call me anytime, seriously! Also I am considering having a “Lunch and Learn” seminar about Internet marketing and social networks and how to use them to increase business profits. Let me know if you have any interest, so I know if it is something we should do. In addition if you would like to participate in a Press Release to local papers that capitalize on current events, let me know.
7. Lower your TCO - Go Virtual - This is a big one. Do you really know how much a server costs you? There is the cost of the equipment, insurance costs, property taxes, upkeep etc… Frontec is offering a new service called the Frontec Virtual Hosted Office. This service will lower your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) because you will not need servers anymore. You can even get rid of all your computers. This may sound strange, but its true. This email is getting too long already. So email me and I will explain it. THIS IS GONNA BE VERY, VERY, VERY BIG!!!
I know there are hundreds of ideas out there, but I seriously want to help you anyway I can. If there is anything that I or Frontec can do for you, please let me know.
Kindest Regards,
Todd Nielsen
Frontec Solutions, Inc.
Website: http://www.frontecinc.com
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